“As such, the academy spent a lot of money this time around!” Xie Xie’s voice was full of awe. “It isn’t easy to buy a spot. Most of the quotas are given to the large and influential clans, so it seems that our academy actually has some influence. I reckon that if Wei Xiaofeng were to know we could enter the spirit ascension platform to cultivate, his intestines would immediately turn green with regret.”


  Zhang Yangzi turned around and glared at Xie Xie. “Why do you say so many useless words?”


  Xie Xie let out a cold snort. “You still haven’t submitted? We can fight as much as we want in the spirit ascension platform; you can try it for yourself then.”


  Zhang Yangzi’s eyes held a cold twinkle in them. He wanted to continue arguing, but Wang Jinxi held his shoulder and reined him in. When he turned around, he saw Wang Jinxi shaking his head in disapproval.

  What’s going on with him? Lately, Zhang Yangzi felt something suspicious was happening as Wang Jinxi had been acting quite restless. He had a vague idea that it was related to the suppression Wang Jinxi experienced at Tang Wulin’s hands, but that had happened such a long time ago…… Unless, he still hadn’t recovered from it?

  ☀

  Eastsea’s Spirit Pagoda was incomparable to the one in Glorybound City. This Spirit Pagoda was one of the eighteen great pagodas, collectively known as the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven.

  The towering pagoda was visible from kilometers away. It was at least one hundred stories tall, surpassing a height of 400 meters. Even among a forest of skyscrapers, it was tall enough to become a giant landmark.

  Spirit Pagoda’s foundation was in the shape of an octagon and covered a large area. The pagoda then narrowed every ten layers until it reached the peak of the spire.

  Even by just admiring it from a distance, one could feel its grandeur.

  This pagoda branch already looked quite grand; what would the Spirit Pagoda headquarters look like? How majestic would it be?

  Tang Wulin had heard from others that the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was situated in the heart of the continent, inside Shrek City. That was the greatest city in the entire federation! As a comparison, the federation’s headquarters was instead located in Bright City, the second greatest city on the continent.

  After a long flight of stairs, the group were greeted by Director Long Hengxu. Clearly, the academy had been prepared for them.

  When Long Hengxu saw Wu Zhangkong leading the students up the stairs, he quickly walked over and greeted, “Teacher Wu.”


  “Director Long,” Wu Zhangkong bluntly called out, his face as wooden as usual.

  Long Hengxu said, “Follow me.”


  After entering the pagoda’s first floor, they were met with a dazzling sight of the interior. Dark gold stone tiled the floors, creating a beautiful granular pattern. Several obelisks stood tall in the center of the space, propping up a dome over ten meters in diameter. The most shocking thing, however, was that the dome being held up by those obelisks had a magnificent and colorful mural on it.

  The mural was resplendent, the scenery painted on the mural seemingly recounting its characters’ tales.

  Wu Zhangkong explained, “This mural portrays the tale of the Spirit Pagoda’s founder, a legendary Soul Master and inventor of spirit souls. It tells of how the Spirit Ice Douluo guided humanity’s Soul Masters in resisting a tide of soul beasts. This is merely a part of the complete mural, that mural having eighteen parts in total.

  “The mural within the headquarters depicts the Spirit Ice Douluo battling the strongest Soul Beast God, Di Tian. The Spirit Ice Douluo disappeared after that epic battle, never to be seen since. Yet, it is rumored that he was victorious, for the Soul Beast God, the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, hasn’t appeared since.”


  Although he was only listening to Wu Zhangkong’s narration of the tale, Tang Wulin’s heart was filled with awe. He could feel the impressiveness of the scene that the mural depicted. Within the soul beast tide, one giant soul beast after another advanced toward the walls of a great city, creating an atmosphere of extreme terror.

  Floating above the city was a person with shining eyes. Surrounding him were several floating figures. One of them was a beautiful woman in white, another a woman dressed in green. Upon his shoulder was an existence that looked like an ice crystal, a gigantic bear, and an enormous white worm. Brilliant soul rings revolved around his body.

  That’s the Spirit Ice Douluo!

  Tang Wulin had heard the legend of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao in his childhood. He was the bastard child of the White Tiger Duke of Star Luo Empire, so his name was actually Dai Yuhao.

  He was a genius from ten thousand years ago. Despite being an ordinary child, he entered the legendary Shrek Academy and, taking one step at a time, walked the path toward becoming a peak expert, resulting in might that caused the entire continent to tremble. Rumours had it that he had broken through the boundaries of humanity and left for the Divine Realm.

  The origin of this rumour was due to the fact that his wife had disappeared soon after he did.

  Tang Wulin gazed intently at the Spirit Ice Douluo when the brilliant figure beside the Spirit Ice Douluo caught his eye.

  A beautiful woman with a pair of gigantic, radiant butterfly wings floated beside the Spirit Ice Douluo. Despite the numerous companions beside the Spirit Ice Douluo, everyone’s attention would be drawn to this couple.

  “Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong, wife of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. Look, Wulin, isn’t the Spirit Ice Douluo’s wife beautiful!? Apparently, she was also extremely powerful and possessed a formidable soul fusion skill with the Spirit Ice Douluo. Combined, they transformed into a supreme existence. In that era, that was the peak!” Xie Xie said as he admired the mural.

  “Tang Wutong; it’s so similar to your name, Wulin,” Gu Yue exclaimed in astonishment. “Also, did you notice that Wulin looks rather similar to Tang Wutong? Especially their eyes.”


  “No way. The Dragon Butterfly Douluo’s hair and eyes are light blue, while Wulin’s are black. How do they look alike?” Xie Xie said dismissively.

  An odd feeling grew within Tang Wulin’s heart as he listened to his two friends converse. There really was a feeling of intimacy in his heart whenever he looked at the Dragon Butterfly Douluo.

  He shook his head in self-mockery. How can I compare myself to the Dragon Butterfly Douluo? I only feel like this because we have similar names, that’s all.

  “Alright, let’s go.” Long Hengxu’s voice roused the five students. He smiled and continued, “I was just like you guys when I first came to one of the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven. I got used to it after a few more visits though. In any case, every single one of the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven has a mural worthy of admiration.”


  Wu Zhangkong said, “Restrain yourselves until you enter the spirit ascension platform. You’ll only have yourselves to rely on once you enter.”


  Surprised, Tang Wulin asked, “You’re not entering with us?”


  Wu Zhangkong explained, “Only Soul Masters with four rings or less can enter the elementary spirit ascension platform.”


  Long Hengxu nodded. “But you can rest assured, we will be watching all of you carefully from the outside. If you encounter a dangerous situation, it will be your duty to take the initiative to withdraw. We’ll give you the full explanation in a bit.”


  With Long Hengxu and Wu Zhangkong in the lead, everyone entered the elevator. Contrary to their expectations, they began to descend instead of ascend.

  A faint feeling of weightlessness told them that they were penetrating deep underground. As for how deep, it was impossible to tell.

  The Spirit Pagoda was indeed worthy of being called the number one organization on the continent; they possessed both the strongest power, as well as the greatest resources. The amount they spent on engineering such a thing was simply astronomical.

  This elevator had no numbers displayed to indicate the time or level, but at least three minutes passed before it gradually came to a stop.

  Everyone exited the elevator and entered an expansive hall where 19 staff members were present. Behind them were countless metal passages

  Long Hengxu took out a peculiar card and handed it over to one of the staff members. The staff member didn’t utter a single word, simply gesturing for them to follow.

  Ten meters down the corridor, they entered another elevator and continued their descent. This time they stopped after 19 seconds, finding themselves in a circular room upon exit.

  This room was still made entirely out of metal, but hanging on the wall was a giant soul screen. An image of a green world flickered on the screen. It seemed to be a jungle.

  The staff member turned around and began to speak. “There are five quotas open for entry to the spirit ascension platform. When you can no longer bear the danger, press the emergency distress button and you will immediately return here. Pay attention to what I say next.”